Okay,Say What Again?
by Cenire Anno
Summary: Jessica, Paige and Jake 'die' and find themselves in ME. An OC written 16 years after the fellowship. Warning: AU
1. Disclaimer

Disclaimer: I do not  own any of the lotr characters or Arda. Jessica, Paige, and Jake are some of my friends and belong to no one but themselves.

However I do own the plot and my marigold bush outside my window. 


	2. Prologue

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, this _is_ Lord Of The Rings. Honest. Just be patient.

OoOoO

Prologue

"ARRG!" Jessica growled. How she hated C-SAP's. The 'Colorado Student Assessment Program' Which was a state requirement, right this week, it was being held in her home town of Colorado Springs. It was near the end of her sophomore year, and it had been horrible.

Her younger brother, Jason, had been sent porn from a friend. Unfortunately for Jessica, he had opened it right in front of their seven year old sister, Faith. Being a normal little sister, she immediately told their mother, who automatically pulled them out of their public schools and made them do an online school, and put strict parent control units on all of the computers

Jessica, who was the oldest of three children, did nothing to deserve this insufferable school. She hated this school with a fiery passion; A passion that would never die. There always seemed to be too much work for someone to do in just a week, and that meant that it cut off most of her weekends. It also meant she could do nothing…fun.

It had been like this since the beginning of this school year, and stayed that way.

During a math workshop that she was forced into last semester, she had made two dear friends, Jake and Paige. It seemed like they talked on-line, day and night. They always helped each other. Always. They suffered together, and now through the annual C-SAP. They were best friends.

"I hate C-SAP's," Jessica moaned

Jake sighed and put his ball cap on while the teacher wasn't looking. "I know, I do to. I just _know_ I failed it!" He was pretty tall and gangly looking, and was always wearing that ugly cap of his. He had light brown hair, that had bleach blond tips to it.

"Me, too!" chimed in Paige as she put a tie in her blond hair having noticed the cute guy three rows ahead of them kept looking back at them.

"How were your tests? Paige, was yours any easier than ours?" Jessica asked.

Paige looked at her in disbelief. "I doubt it."

Paige was just a grade behind her friends, and had the same problems they did. The teachers had divided up the classes into different rooms, meaning they put ninth and tenth grades together because they were the two smallest classes of the year.

Jessica flipped her long curly brunette hair, causing Jake to roll his eyes. He had noticed the guy that was looking at the girls and found their flirtations to be absolutely ridiculous. "Jake, how is that comedy book you're reading?" she asked.

"Fine. It's kind of like that movie 'Christmas With the Kranks' that came out a couple of years ago."

Jessica batted her long eyelashes at the guy who was looking at her. "I think I will read that next."

Paige started giggling. Her friends followed her gaze, seeing that she had finally caught the guy's eye. He was giving her a half smile and then winked, making her giggle all the more.

Jessica looked at Jake, seeing a look of utter disgust on his face. She almost fell out of her chair, laughing.

The annoyed Paige dragged the still laughing Jessica towards the bathroom. When they got arrived, Paige crossed her arms and tapped her foot, glaring at Jessica and giving her look that clearly said, "Well?" She received a cheeky grin in reply. Her eyes narrowed even more and her friend finally gave in upon receiving the "death glare of doom."

"It's Jake's fault. You should've seen his face when you were flirting with that guy who kept looking at us!" Jessica snorted at the memory.

Paige thought for a minute and then an evil grin spread across her face, "Maybe he was jealous. Let's get payback for embarrassing me, by flirting with him!"

They left the bathroom with a wide smile plastered across their faces. When they walked back into the room, Jessica whispered, "Let the fun begin!" They went on to sit on either side of Jake. Jessica put one arm around him and put her hand on his knee. Paige forced his arm over her shoulders and pressed herself against him, laying her head on his shoulder and drawing invisible circles on his chest with her finger. He shifted uncomfortably for a minute before finally breaking the silence. "Umm…what are you doing?"

After a couple of minutes, the girls became bored with their prank. Then Jessica's stomach replied, causing the girls to giggle. "I saw a McDonalds down the street," she said. "Let's feed my stomach before it starts making louder demands." Her friend's laughed. There were times when her stomach sounded as if it were scolding someone.

The trio walked into the fast food restaurant, and ordered. Jessica wanted to sit at a window seat, so she could watch the sky. She was fascinated with the clouds that were brewing so thickly overhead. Then she realized she had the new digital camera that her father bought in her over-sized purse.

"Come on, guys! I wanna take some pics outside!" Pictures were always rather interesting when taken at the edge of a weather front.

Jake mumbled something that sounded like, "Unn Ommeenn eeen oo ann."

Jessica looked at Paige for a translation, which was apparently, "He said, 'One moment, then you can.'" She raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. "You can come out when you're done stuffing your face," she suggested with a grin.

"I'll go with you," piped up Paige, and left before Jake could swallow his food.

Once outside, Paige pointed pretty scenes out for her friend to photograph. Jessica made sure to take at least a couple of pictures of Pikes Peak. Despite the many disadvantages that Colorado Springs had, the mountain overlooking it was not one of them.

Just then, Jake burst out of the resturant looking exteremely annoyed.

Jessica and Paige just smiled innocently. He crossed his arms, and Paige gave him her renowned puppy dog look, lip and everything. He rolled his eyes then smiled. Jessica felt happy, she was always happy when she was with her friends. They each had tough lives, and yet somehow lived through them. She sighed contently, _I wish that we could go elsewhere. To a more simple world, without having to worry about school or their siblings._

Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck the three, killing the trio istantly.

OoOoO

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please remember, this is an AU Lord of the Rings and is only the Prologue. More chapters to follow.


	3. Not in Kansas Anymore

Jessica lay alone on moist ground in a lush forest. She slowly opened her eyes and groaned as she regaining consciousness. She sat up and looked around groggily. _That's a pretty tree; those usually don't grow out here. It's a nice change from the pines, though. _Her eyes widened with the sudden realization that she was nowhere near the city.

"I'm having a dream," she stated firmly as she tried to get up. Her body protested and she collapsed. "Okay, I'm having a really real dream," she said, grumbling.

After a moment, she tried to get up again. She crawled to a tree, using it for support. Reaching for a branch, then the next, and the next. Eventually she was able to get to her feet and stretched her aching body. The last time Jessica could recall being this sore was when she'd ridden her horse hard without warming up first.

She looked down at herself and groaned. Her jeans were torn in several places, her white button-down shirt was filthy, and wet, which may it partially see through. "Great." Somewhere in the back of her mind, Jessica was beginning to suspect that she was not dreaming, but this was a reality she did not what to consider at the moment. Instead, she continued her examination of her apparently unharmed person. Luckily, she had decided to wear the combat boots that her mother always objected to. Hey, they were comfortable! She wasn't exactly a Goth, but then, she wasn't exactly a fashion model, either. _Good_._ At least my feet will be okay_.

Jessica drew a deep breath and looked around. _I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto,_ she thought, looking at her surroundings. "Okay, Jess, you're not going to get hysterical. You're not the hysterical type." She looked around, finding a stick she could use to walk with. And her purse! _Score one for Jessica!_ Then she drew herself to her full height and started moving…that way.

Despite the boots, Jessica's feet started to hurt when she realized she had been walking for several hours. She had already gone thought panic at what might have happened, terror that she would never get out of the forest, hysteria that she might starve to death, and finally ended with the mind numbing boredom of endless trees. Her mind had return to contemplating where she was when and the most disgusting excuse for a creature jumped in front of her. She let out a surprise squeak, her hands going to her mouth. It seemed just as surprised as she was. Then it started growling at her. So she he growled right back.

It reminded her of her cousin, Mike. Well, except the rotting flesh that is. It was really a disgustingly gross little…thing. _You can't scare me, whatever you are, _she thought, hoping that the same tactic on she used on Mike might intimidate it.

The creature cocked its head in confusion. Then it suddenly grabbed her by the waist and tried to kiss her. Jessica was so stunned, she couldn't move for a few seconds. Then her brain started working again and she used her walking stick to let it know this was not acceptable behavior. "Do you mind? We haven't been introduced!" she heard herself saying. _Oh, crap, I'm getting hysterical again._

The thing let go, stared, and screamed angrily. The only thing this accomplished was to be struck a second time.

Jessica hoped this would deter any further…groping. It didn't. The creature made another grab for her. So she beat the living daylights out of it. Her aching muscled protested, but she didn't care. She was hot, tired, scared, frustrated, and more angry than afraid of this whatever it was.

When Jessica was satisfied the thing would not come back at her, she stopped and it cowered back, its arms over its head. Then it crouched down low and whimpered, as if asking if she were done. For no apparently reason, she decided she would name it, "Mike"

Suddenly, an arrow appeared out of nowhere, piercing "Mike." Jessica let out another alarmed squeak and wondered if this was why women used to faint all the time. Two of the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen, appeared out of the bushes. They were identical, as far as she could tell. Twins, probably. They were both tall and beautiful, with long ebony hair, and muscular looking. One of them was looking at her._ What the heck!_

One nudged "Mike" with his foot while the other was looked at her. _Okay,_ she thought, looking from one to the other. She looked at the one who may or may not have been checking her out. _I guess you can be Twin A. And the other can be Twin B. _

"Are you well, my lady?" Twin A asked in elvish.

Jessica raised her eyebrow. Not to her great surprise, they spoke a language she didn't understand. Although, it was a beautiful language to listen to.

"I don't think she speaks elvish," said Twin B.

Twin A rolled his eyes. He raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. Receiving no response, he started towards her. She was obviously frightened, for she raised her stick in warning. He just smiled and continued to hold up his hands. She frowned and tilted her head in confusion.

Twin A pointed to himself. "Elladan," he said firmly.

Jessica frowned. "Aladdin?" she repeated. This must've been close enough to the correct answer, because the man smiled and nodded. He pointed to Twin B and said, "Elrodhir."

Suddenly the lightbulb went on. _He's telling me their names!_ "El-rod-hir," she repeated. The names were strange and she was sure she'd gotten them wrong. She pointed to herself. "Jessica."

The men exchanged glances. Then Twin A…no, Aladdin, or whatever he was called, repeated her name. He seemed happy when she smiled back and relaxed slightly. Then he called out something and a young man stood up from behind the bushes where they had been concealed. "Eldarion," he said, pointing to the boy.

"El-dar-ion," Jessica repeated. "Great. Now we all know who's who. Now what?"

She gave them a small smile and then fainted dead away.

OoOoOoO

Eldarion hadn't been too sure about accompanying his uncles, Elladan and Elrohir on one of their tracking trips. He later had to admit, it was the strangest one he had _ever_ been on.

First, there was the mortal woman they had seen wandering through the forest, talking to herself. As strange as this was, it wasn't nearly as strange as when they later saw an orc jump out at her. Rather than screaming and running like any other woman that Eldarion had seen, this one stood her ground and actually growled back when the orc growled at her.

Eldarion wasn't sure about his uncles, but he found himself impressed. Being even more so when the orc kissed the woman and, instead of fainting, she struck it with the staff in her hand. He had already notched an arrow and was preparing to shoot the orc, only to be forestalled by his Uncle Elladan, possibly because he didn't think his nephew had a clear shot. But even he seemed surprised when the woman began beating the orc.

Within a few minutes, this warrior maid had the orc cowering. The three watching elves found themselves amazed and amused by this scene. The stranger had taken an animal whose sole purpose in life was killing and had it cowering and whimpering like an infant.

Eldarion had difficulty containing his laughter, even after receiving a quelling look from his uncles. All he could think about was returning to Gondor and telling his father the whole bizarre story.

Before the orc could gather its wits, and its courage, and attack the woman again Eldarion watched as his Uncle Elrohir expertly fired an arrow, killing it instantly. Naturally, this startled the stranger, and the elder elves stepped out from the bushes, motioning for Eldarion to remain out of sight. He looked at the staff still in the warrior maid's hand and nodded.

It was immediately apparent that the stranger did not speak elvish. Eldarion watched as his Uncle tried to get across to her that they meant her no harm. She held up the staff in a defensive manner as he approached, but she did not lash out, which seemed to indicate that she understood at least the gestures of Eldarion's uncle. Then they learned her name. Jessica. An odd sounding name to the boy's elven ears.

To the amazement of them all, the warrior maid smiled before collapsing in a swoon.


End file.
